Read MMORPG: How a Computer Game Becomes Deadly Serious for Free Online Page B

he said, before continuing.
     
    “ The cultural and behavioral norms of virtual worlds and gaming are generally unstudied. Therefore, Reynard will seek to identify the emerging social, behavioral and cultural norms in virtual worlds and gaming environments. The project would then apply the lessons learned to determine the feasibility of automatically detecting suspicious behavior and actions in the virtual World. If it shows early promise, this small seedling effort may increase its scope to a full project.”
    “ Reynard will conduct unclassified research in a public virtual World environment. The research will use publicly available data and will begin with observational studies to establish baseline normative behaviors.”
     
     
    He was silent for a moment, digesting the information. “From what I read, it’s still going to take some time before something is really happening,” he finally said.
    “Yes, that’s what I thought too,” she answered. “According to the gamers, there’s nothing to worry about. Thousands of people have commented on various forums and ninety-nine percent thinks it’s plain stupidity. A lot of flack about the waste of taxpayers’ money and how the virtual world has nothing to do with the real world. The same goes for the ‘official’ comments on gaming sites. They all say that it’s an unnecessary nuisance.”
    She half raised from her chair to reach for the tea pot.
    “And what do you think?” Robert asked.
    “I think it’s really stupid to ignore the possibilities. Have you ever read an article or something about the surveillance that the intelligence community is supposed to impose on us?”
    He nodded. “Yes, I have. Only last week, it was a big deal. It said that nearly all telephone calls in the world are automatically screened and that if you say something suspicious like ‘nuclear bomb’ on the phone, the call is recorded and checked by a human operator later on. The same goes for email. Specialized search engines scan all email, looking for suspicious word combinations. The newspaper was rather worried about privacy issues.”
    “Big brother is watching you. He’s eavesdropping as well.”
    He smiled at that. “So if a game like World of Warcraft isn’t under surveillance, it would be the perfect medium to exchange information. The perfect hideout.”
    Enthusiastically, she sat forward, eyes glittering. “Exactly. That’s what I told myself last night. Regardless of whether it’s true or not, nearly everyone has been scared into believing that telephone and email are not secure. So what better way to communicate safely than through WoW?”
    “But how easy is it to communicate in WoW? You both have to be online, haven’t you?”
    “No, not at all!” She shook her head vigorously. “That’s the beauty of it. World of Warcraft has every communication facility you could possibly desire. For instance, you can send in-game emails that will wait in a mailbox for thirty days to be picked up. You can even send notes that you can store for later reference. Of course, when you’re both online, you can chat in secure channels, but you can also actually talk to each other. There are several options like Teamspeak that allow you to have a VOIP conversation much like a conference call.”
    “So why are the reactions so negative on the Internet, do you think? Why do the gamers think it’s nonsense?”
    “That’s exactly what surprised me so much. If you’re into this game, you simply must recognize the potential opportunities it offers for clandestine communication. It’s perfect. The accounts are anonymous. You can access it from any place on earth, it’s completely secure, and it’s untraceable on top of all that. What more could a criminal wish for?”
    “So do you think that we should go to the police?”
    She shrugged. “I don’t know.”
    Robert came to a decision. “After all we’ve been discussing, do you actually think we can stop here? No, I